Drax Cup 2014 Open for Entries!

Yorkshire Club Captain Andrew Gale and England women’s fast bowler Katherine Brunt met young cricketers at Headingley today (Tuesday 4 March) to support a call for 500 primary school teams to enter the 2014 Drax Cup.

They took part in a special coaching session and match practice with youngsters from current Drax Cup holders Harehills Primary School in Leeds, who were joined by Cawood Primary School, near Selby, to promote junior cricket and encourage a record entry for this year’s competition.

Katherine Brunt, who returned with the victorious England team last month after retaining The Ashes in Australia, and Andrew Gale are both ambassadors for the Drax Cup, the biggest cricket competition for Under 9s in the country and open to schools in Yorkshire and Teesside.

School Sports Partnerships need to enter by Monday 28 April by completing the entry form on the competition website www.thedraxcup.co.uk

Andrew and Katherine teamed up with Steve Foster, Mick Brook and Andy Barker, employees of cup sponsor Drax who hold coaching badges from the England and Wales Cricket Board, to provide classes in bowling and batting skills for the pupils who then played a short match.

Andrew said: “I first played cricket when I was eight and the Drax Cup is a fantastic way of introducing the game to youngsters.”

Katherine said: “Discovering you enjoy a sport is a great feeling and watching the children today it was clear they were having loads of fun.”

The competition begins after Easter and runs until July. Teams play in a series of events to produce four area winners. These teams will play the 2014 Drax Cup Finals at Headingley Cricket Ground on Wednesday 2 July, prior to Yorkshire v Durham in the NatWest T20 Blast.

The competition is sponsored by Drax and organised by The Yorkshire County Cricket Club in conjunction with Yorkshire Cricket Board, The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation and Yorkshire Schools’ Cricket Association.

The sponsorship by Drax is part of the company’s Cricket In The Community scheme which also provides cricket coaching to schools.

For full details and competition rules visit www.thedraxcup.co.uk

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